What part of the world are you from and where do you currently live?

I'm from the USA. Born in Virginia. Lived in several states including Connecticut, MA, CO, NE, and now in Kansas.

Do you have children? If so how many and what ages?

1 boy, 1 girl, both grown. 2 grandchildren, 1 great grandson.

What do you do at Atheist Republic?

I supply news suggestions and do some editing at AR.

You are a dictator. Are you benevolent or malevolent, and what is your first edict?

Benevolent; 1st Edict -- redistribution of wealth in the world to share the pool of wealth for benefit of all.

Were you ever religious? If so, share a little bit of that experience. Were you completely all-in and sincere or were you half-hearted? Did you always have serious doubts?

I think very early on I believed the religious stories I was told (at a Baptist Orphanage) were just like other stories I was told, such as Santa Clause and Aesop's Fables--nice little stories to teach something. During late teens & early twenties tried hard to believe in religion to please relatives, who had basically shut me out when I showed signs of not believing. I wasn't any good at the attempt to live the lie of religion because it wasn't who I was.

What event or series of events brought you to become an atheist? If you were always an atheist, did you ever have doubts?

Enrolled in college as an adult with kids; majored in Philosophy/Religion, which included 2 years of New Testament Greek. I wanted tools to support my disbelief in religion. However, by the time I graduated I was too involved in every day living to bother arguing religion with my new tools.

What is your favorite holiday? How do you celebrate/observe it?

Favorite holiday is the solstice, both winter & summer. They mark turning points in the year. No real observation other than a personal acknowledgement of the days.

In a horrifying turn of events, you can only choose to have one of the following, forsaking all others. Would you choose:

a) a TV with all the channels
b) a huge library full of all kinds of books and periodicals that update regularly
c) a computer and printer but no internet
d) a video game console with all of the games you want

I'd have to choose a library. Computer without the internet is hardly worth having.

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